Hiroshima : Peace Declaration Aug. 6, 2005

Friends,

Following is the text of the official Hiroshima
Declaration, read by Mayor Akiba shortly before 8:15
in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.

Copies of my speech at the World Conference Against A & H Bombs and Hibakusha testimonies can be found at www.afsc.org/pes.htm.

Work for nuclear weapons abolition, peace and justice,
Joseph Gerson
American Friends committee

This August 6, the 60th anniversary of the atomic
bombing, is a moment of shared lamentation in which
more than 300 thousand souls of A-bomb victims and
those who remain behind transcend the boundary between
life and death to remember that day. It is also a time
of inheritance, of awakening, and of commitment, in
which we inherit the commitment of the hibakusha to
the abolition of nuclear weapons and realization of
genuine world peace, awaken to our individual
responsibilities, and recommit ourselves to take
action. This new commitment, building on the desires
of all war victims and the millions around the world
who are sharing this moment, is creating a harmony
that is enveloping our planet.

The keynote of this harmony is the hibakusha warning,
"No one else should ever suffer as we did," along with
the cornerstone of all religions and bodies of law,
"Thou shalt not kill." Our sacred obligation to future
generations is to establish this axiom, especially its
corollary, "Thou shalt not kill children," as the
highest priority for the human race across all nations
and religions. The International Court of Justice
advisory opinion issued nine years ago was a vital
step toward fulfilling this obligation, and the
Japanese Constitution, which embodies this axiom
forever as the sovereign will of a nation, should be a
guiding light for the world in the 21st century.

Unfortunately, the Review Conference of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty this past May left no doubt
that the U.S., Russia, U.K., France, China, India,
Pakistan, North Korea and a few other nations wishing
to become nuclear-weapon states are ignoring the
majority voices of the people and governments of the
world, thereby jeopardizing human survival.

Based on the dogma "Might is right," these countries
have formed their own "nuclear club," the admission
requirement being possession of nuclear weapons.
Through the media, they have long repeated the
incantation, "Nuclear weapons protect you." With no
means of rebuttal, many people worldwide have
succumbed to the feeling that "There is nothing we can
do." Within the United Nations, nuclear club members
use their veto power to override the global majority
and pursue their selfish objectives.

To break out of this situation, Mayors for Peace, with
more than 1,080 member cities, is currently holding
its sixth General Conference in Hiroshima, where we
are revising the Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear
Weapons launched two years ago. The primary objective
is to produce an action plan that will further expand
the circle of cooperation formed by the U.S.
Conference of Mayors, the European Parliament,
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear
War and other international NGOs, organizations and
individuals worldwide, and will encourage all world
citizens to awaken to their own responsibilities with
a sense of urgency, "as if the entire world rests on
their shoulders alone," and work with new commitment
to abolish nuclear weapons.

To these ends and to ensure that the will of the
majority is reflected at the UN, we propose that the
First Committee of the UN General Assembly, which will
meet in October, establish a special committee to
deliberate and plan for the achievement and
maintenance of a nuclear-weapon-free world. Such a
committee is needed because the Conference on
Disarmament in Geneva and the NPT Review Conference in
New York have failed due to a "consensus rule" that
gives a veto to every country.

We expect that the General Assembly will then act on
the recommendations from this special committee,
adopting by the year 2010 specific steps leading
toward the elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020.

Meanwhile, we hereby declare the 369 days from today
until August 9, 2006, a "Year of Inheritance,
Awakening and Commitment." During this Year, the
Mayors for Peace, working with nations, NGOs and the
vast majority of the world’s people, will launch a
great diversity of campaigns for nuclear weapons
abolition in numerous cities throughout the world.

We expect the Japanese government to respect the voice
of the world’s cities and work energetically in the
First Committee and the General Assembly to ensure
that the abolition of nuclear weapons is achieved by
the will of the majority. Furthermore, we request that
the Japanese government provide the warm, humanitarian
support appropriate to the needs of all the aging
hibakusha, including those living abroad and those
exposed in areas affected by the black rain.

On this, the sixtieth anniversary of the atomic
bombing, we seek to comfort the souls of all its
victims by declaring that we humbly reaffirm our
responsibility never to "repeat the evil."

"Please rest peacefully; for we will not repeat the evil."

August 6, 2005

Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima